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MALACAÑANG
Manila
WHEREAS, reports from law-enforcement agencies reveal that lawless elements are still
committing acts of depredations upon the persons and properties of innocent and
defenseless inhabitants who travel from one place to another, thereby distributing the
peace, order and tranquility of the nation and stunting the economic and social progress
of the people;
Section 1. Title. This Decree shall be known as the Anti-Piracy and Anti-Highway
Robbery Law of 1974.
Section 2. Definition of Terms. The following terms shall mean and be understood, as
follows:
a. Philippine Waters. It shall refer to all bodies of water, such as but not limited to, seas,
gulfs, bays around, between and connecting each of the Islands of the Philippine
Archipelago, irrespective of its depth, breadth, length or dimension, and all other waters
belonging to the Philippines by historic or legal title, including territorial sea, the sea-bed,
the insular shelves, and other submarine areas over which the Philippines has sovereignty
or jurisdiction.
b. Vessel. Any vessel or watercraft used for transport of passengers and cargo from one
place to another through Philippine Waters. It shall include all kinds and types of vessels
or boats used in fishing.
c. Philippine Highway. It shall refer to any road, street, passage, highway and bridges or
other parts thereof, or railway or railroad within the Philippines used by persons, or
vehicles, or locomotives or trains for the movement or circulation of persons or
transportation of goods, articles, or property or both.
d. Piracy. Any attack upon or seizure of any vessel, or the taking away of the whole or
part thereof or its cargo, equipment, or the personal belongings of its complement or
passengers, irrespective of the value thereof, by means of violence against or intimidation
of persons or force upon things, committed by any person, including a passenger or
member of the complement of said vessel, in Philippine waters, shall be considered as
piracy. The offenders shall be considered as pirates and punished as hereinafter provided.
a. Piracy. The penalty of reclusion temporal in its medium and maximum periods shall be
imposed. If physical injuries or other crimes are committed as a result or on the occasion
thereof, the penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be imposed. If rape, murder or homicide is
committed as a result or on the occasion of piracy, or when the offenders abandoned the
victims without means of saving themselves, or when the seizure is accomplished by
firing upon or boarding a vessel, the mandatory penalty of death shall be imposed.
It shall be presumed that any person who does any of the acts provided in this Section has
performed knowingly, unless the contrary is proven.
Section 5. Repealing Clause. Pertinent portions of Act No. 3815, otherwise known as the
Revised Penal Code; and all laws, decrees, or orders or instructions, or parts thereof,
insofar as they are inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.
Done in the City of Manila, this 8th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen
hundred and seventy-four.